You're stranded on a desert island en route to picking up yet another award... In the wreckage you find a Mac with Logic installed and someone's wallet containing $300. Whilst surveying your island, you find a magical shop selling off secondhand studio equipment and other related bric-a-brac. Outside the shop, a bunch of eager musicians are smoking joints (stay with me...).

What bare essentials for recording heavy rock and acoustic ballad style music in a home DAW environment would you buy from the shop for under $300 to get half-decent results?

Ooooh, scratch that Presonus. For your budget you should look for these cool little ART Tube Pres. They come up used for around $50 and with the money left over you can buy some Mai-Tais on the beach!!!